Interview: Heyoka’s Mirror

Soon Canadian metal band Heyoka’s Mirror will release their new EP, called Loss Of Contact With Reality. DutchMetalManiac’s Alessandro already reviewed it here and now he also interviewed Heyoka’s Mirror, read it below!

Fellow Canucks, I’m very honoured to be granted this interview and very happy that a new power trio is emerging! Andrew Balboa – vocals, keyboards and rhythm guitars, Omar Sultan – guitars, Bayan Sharafi – drums… we are all glad to meet you! So, tell us about your origins!

Omar: My dad decided a long time ago, he said “hey, you need a better life, a better place to live in” and that’s why I moved here.

Andrew: I lived in Vancouver for a year back in 2001, I was 11 back then. In 2002 I went back to Mexico and I realized Mexico wasn’t home anymore… I needed to go back… back to the land of the maple syrup.

Bayan: I was born in Drumheller, but both my parents are from Iran.

Are any or all of you classically trained or did you just pick up an instrument and become self-taught? What inspired you?

Andrew: I’m classically trained. I started taking theory and opera lessons when I was 14 back in Mexico. What inspired me? Dream Theater’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. The very first time I listened to that album, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

Omar: I was never trained, I have never really actually taken lessons, but now I am taking proper lessons with Andy Bray from Mother Mary, an amazing English rock band from the 90’s.

When I was growing up I used to play a lot.. I was playing 6 to 8 hours a day. I used to skip school and practice all day back when I was 16 or 17. I just learnt how to listen to music and improvise a lot. What inspired me? Same as Andrew… Dream Theater.

Bayan: I decided I wanted to play drums because I wanted to be cool in high-school and drums was something I just loved doing. I had a punk band back then and the first song I ever learnt was Sex Pistols’ God save the Queen.

Is the world a better place with all this new technology for spreading the gift of music or was it better to copy LP’s to cassettes and spread it around? Why?

Bayan: Well, now it’s way better because it’s so easy to get to everybody.

Omar: Yes, but at the same time it has become easier for shit musicians to distribute their shit.

Andrew: I guess that’s one of the reasons why there’s so much shit out there right now. Anyone can now upload to CD Baby, Itunes and be instantly “famous”.

Your music is very intricate with some great influences that I hear, such as Yes and Dream Theater; tell us when and where your best times for inspiration are.

Omar: For me it’s when something big happens in my life. When heavy emotions come by, those emotions also bring a lot of ideas and energy to me and I get really inspired by that. I get inspired by emotion.

Bayan: Listening to music, feeling it and learning it.

Andrew: Same thing for me. I listen to a lot of music, I listen to everything… from Death metal all the way to J-Pop… and everything inspires me. But music HAS to touch me. When I get touched by music I feel inspired and I feel the need to touch you. Touch you in a way only I can touch you.

As per your band name, are you all contrarians? Do you react in the opposite way people expect? The concept is awesome, do explain!

Andrew: We are all contrarians when we write our music. All of our songs talk about issues humans need to work on. Face of Void was actually inspired by Facebook. We wanted to talk about how a lot of people put on a mask when they go on social media, a lot of people want to show a fake fantasy life they actually don’t have.

In the end… If you feel identified with our EP’s main character, Mr. Loomis… Then you have some serious issues you have to work on.

Onstage, 90% and live to fight another day or 110% and see what happens the next day?

Omar: 110%. We try our best every single show to sound our best.

Andrew: I don’t think we need to keep it safe… We practice and we practice a lot, so when we go on stage we are 100% ready… Once we go on stage, we just focused on having an awesome time and putting on an awesome show.

Speaking of stages, your FB has listed quite a few past appearances. How was the reaction to the band? Any plans to make it up to Toronto? A new tour planned?

Omar: People really like us! The best thing that I hear people say is: “I’m not really a heavy metal person but I love your style… you’re so musical!” And then of course, people who are into heavy music love our different style of metal.

Andrew: Toronto? We would LOVE to go to Toronto. We’re planning on a small tour around the west coast once the EP is out. Hopefully our name will soon expand to the east coast so we can tour over there.

I want to thank you so much for taking the time for us and as we go, give us “Heyoka’s Happenings” for 2017/2018: